Finally,YCMOU Regional Centre gets alternate land in city

Speaking with Newsline,Centre director Dadasaheb More said around 1,083 sqm land in survey number 42 in Balewadi was recently made available by Pune Municipal Corporation on lease of 30 years.

“Formalities required to transfer land to YCMOU are almost over,and we are about to take possession of the land. Our head office that is based in Nashik will decide the future course of action to ensure necessary buildings and other infrastructure come up on allotted land at the earliest,” he said on Friday.

Pune and Satara districts come under the jurisdiction of YCMOU’s Pune Regional Centre,which also manages administration of Solapur region,comprising Solapur and Osmanabad districts.

“Our present set up in Sadashiv Peth often proves inadequate in size,especially at the beginning of the academic year,when there is a heavy admission rush. Being into distance-education,we also have to arrange and dispatch study material to candidates periodically and keep stock of these books. In the present set up,it is a herculean task,” More said,adding that the new space will help spread educational activities.

Established by an Act of the Maharashtra State Legislature in July,1989,YCMOU has been recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and runs a range of diploma,under-graduate and post-graduate courses in the distance-learning mode. The state open university enjoys a strong student base of more than 4.5 lakh,including 50,000 from Pune centre,with a major chunk of it from rural areas.